Mid-Michigan Dining

• 521 N. Clippert St.
• Lansing, MI 48912
• (517) 332-1000
• No Known Website
• Menu

Amici's New York Deli on Clippert St. near the Frandor Shopping Center.

I’ve been wanting to get to Amici’s New York Deli for quite some time, but I kept reading bad reviews about the place.  Almost everything I have heard is that the food was pretty good, but it was really overpriced.  I gave it a few months and we went looking for it one day.  Not being familiar with Frandor or that area, we had a hard time finding it and ended up at the Frandor Deli (review HERE) instead.  Today, we ran over to Linens ‘n Things (review HERE) closeout sale.  This time, I put Amici’s address in my GPS and we were able to find.

Amici’s New York Deli sits on Clippert Street across from the Frandor Shopping Center.  The building looks like it used to be a different fast food restaurant, but I couldn’t quite place which one.  We stopped in on a Saturday afternoon just before 3:00 and the place was deserted.  Had it not been for the neon “OPEN” sign in the window, I would have though the joint was closed.

I don’t have much experience with New York Deli’s, but Amici’s didn’t really look like anything I went to in New York.  It’s much nicer.  J said it reminded her of a bank more than a deli.  There’s a nice tile floor and the all the wood is much nicer than you’d expect.  We made our way to the counter to order.  There’s a big board hanging above the cash register with the list of sandwiches.  It was reminiscent of Zingerman’s in Ann Arbor (review HERE).  The thing I thought was odd was that it was not set up like a deli.  There are no deli cases and you can’t see the meat.  The counter is a big wood structure that blocks the view of the kitchen.

Amici's New York Deli on Clippert St.

I wanted to to try their pastrami so I ordered the #24 off the classic deli sandwich section of the menu.  You get your choice of bread.  I choice wheat over white and rye.  I also asked to keep the tomatoes and mayo off, but keep the lettuce and mustard.  The two complaints I have heard about Amici’s was the size of the sandwiches and the fact there are no sides included.  Those complaints are from the deli’s first few months and someone must have been listening.  The sandwich size was huge.  They really piled the pastrami.  There was just one piece of lettuce and a generous helping on mustard.  The sandwich did come with a free side.  I chose the bag of chips and just grabbed a bag of Lays.  I thought the sandwich was really good.  I’m not an expert on pastrami as I’ve only had it a couple times, but I really enjoyed my sandwich.

J ordered off the panini side of the menu.  She got the #55 which is called The Christopher.  Her panini came with chicken, bacon, Swiss cheese and ranch dressing.  There was a lot of chicken on the sandwich and a lot of ranch.  That was her biggest complaint was that there was too much dressing.  The chicken was not sliced deli chicken, but whole chicken breast chunks.  Other than too much dressing, she said she liked her meal.  She chose potato salad as her side.  It was just a small serving served in a cup.  She got stuck after eating about half of the second half of her sandwich.

The thing is, we both left full.  The bill was just over $17 which I don’t think is really that bad.  I suppose if I was just paying for the sandwich, I probably wouldn’t be happy, but add in a bag of chips and a side of potato salad and I’m alright with the price.  Amici’s was good, but I wonder how they are recovering from early impressions of the place.  There was so much hype on the blogosphere when it opened followed by reviews of disappointment.  I know when you do a Google search, those reviews are what come up.  It was almost enough to keep me away, but I’m glad I went back.  If it’s been a while, you might want to give them another chance. If you’ve been avoiding because of the reviews, it might be time to try it.